


Sing It Back

by reminiscingintherain



Series: Pride [4]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2020-06-29 06:57:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19824895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reminiscingintherain/pseuds/reminiscingintherain
Summary: "This makes a nice change," Greg interjected, before the couple could get into a bickering session."What's that, Gregory?" Niall asked."Seeing you all completely relaxed and open about who you are and who you're with and what you love," Greg smiled. "I know we have a lot of people watching on the webcam, and the twitter replies are going wild right about now." He grinned. "There's a lot of love and support out there for you."~~~~The first interview.





	Sing It Back

**Author's Note:**

> As always, a huge thank you to my amazing betas, [Lynda](http://wait4ever.tumblr.com/) and [Katie for your swift work on this one - literally finishing this one by the skin of my teeth, and they've managed to jump in to beta for me at the last minute!! Shout out to ](http://larrymaybe22.tumblr.com/)[Sus](http://lululawrence.tumblr.com/) for conning me into this again (I was planning on having a by week, but noooo...).
> 
> Title from _Sing It Back_ by Moloko.
> 
> Hope you like, please leave a comment or kudos!
> 
> _This is part of a Wordplay prompt challenge for the prompt "tin". To read the amazing fics that were written by the others on this prompt,[click here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/tin_tin), and to see all fics written as part of the challenge (including years 1 and 2), [click here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/wordplay_fic_challenge/works). You can also find the masterpost for this year’s challenge [here](https://wordplayfics.tumblr.com/post/185709101043/wordplay-2019-every-week-for-five-weeks-a-prompt)._

_ Six months ago _

"What are you staring at?"

Zayn jumped slightly and looked around, pulling his sunglasses off to squint at Harry.

"Heya bro," he greeted. "I'm just reading the sign." He waved a hand at the wall.

"'This street was Tin Pan Alley, 1911- 1992, home of the British Publishers and Songwriters, and their meeting place The Giaconda'," Harry read. "Musical history, right here."

"And we're gonna add to it," Zayn nodded slowly, letting out a deep breath.

"Oh, Zaynie," Harry shook his head in mock dismay. "Haven't you already realised? We've been adding to it for over ten years, love."

Zayn chuckled and nudged at his side.

"I knew that, dork," he muttered. "You know full well what I meant."

"I do," Harry snickered, slinging an arm around Zayn's shoulders. "I just love to tease you." He pressed a kiss to Zayn's cheek. "Missed your face, V."

"Missed you too, Marce," Zayn replied, leaning into him easily.

"Oi, oi, what's going on here then?" a distinctive voice called from behind them, causing them both to look over their shoulders with a smile. "Am I interrupting?"

"Oh no, Zayn, he's here, quick, get away, before he discovers our secret affair," Harry said in a monotone.

"But Haz, I love you, I can't," Zayn replied in the same voice.

"You're both dickheads and I don't like either of you any more," Louis huffed, wriggling his way between the two of them and looking up at the wall, before he let out a low whistle. "Jeez. That sounds pretty heavy. Are we sure we're worthy enough of this?"

"Of course we bloody well are," Liam replied indignantly, stepping up onto the pavement with Niall beside him. "We've done a lot, we've been through more, and we deserve everything and more. We're no less 'worthy' of anything than anyone else."

"Before this all gets a bit loud, cos clearly Li's on one this morning," Niall interjected. "How about we go inside before we get seen? We don't exactly want our comeback ruined by a fan with a nifty 18 megapixel camera on their phone."

"Alright, Neil, we're getting there," Louis retorted. "Don't get your knickers in a twist."

Liam rolled his eyes and led the way to the door of Denmark Road Studios.

"I think we should get them to change their name back," Harry remarked offhandedly.

"Back to what, Haz?" Liam raised an eyebrow.

"They were Tin Pan Alley Studios until Guy renamed them Denmark Road in 2013," Niall explained as they walked down the steps into the basement, where the studio was located.

"And you think we can convince him to change it?" Zayn asked.

"Maybe," Harry hummed. "I'll have a think about it."

"Enough about the studio, Haz," Louis rolled his eyes. "Let's just start recording. That's what we're here for, isn't it?"

"It is," Harry beamed. "Back in the studio with my boys!"

Louis shook his head at his fiance, before he let out a growl at the sight of Niall's phone.

"There's no bloody signal here, Tommo, so quit your mithering," Niall immediately said. "Just, everyone get in so we can have something to commemorate this momentous day."

He held up the phone as all five squished together to get in the frame. Harry threw his trademark 'peace' sign with one arm slung around Louis, who was pressed up against Zayn, who was holding onto Liam with both arms, who had his arm around Niall's waist.

"That's definitely a lot easier than it used to be," Niall observed. "Seems like we've all calmed down a bit in our old age."

"How dare you!" Louis gasped and grabbed a cushion from off of the sofa in front of them, immediately smacking at Niall repeatedly with it. "I am not old!"

The other three exchanged a look before they sat down out of the way to let them get it out of their systems, before recording could begin properly.

_ Now _

"So the album's coming out next week, is that right?" Greg James asked.

"Yes," Louis nodded quickly. "Next Friday, midnight UK time."

"And that's a global release at that time?" Greg checked.

"Yeah, cos we didn't like it when some people were getting our music before others," Liam explained. "So, unlike all of our previous releases, we've decided to go for one set time, and that's it."

"A wise decision," Greg grinned. "And I understand that this is completely your own work? No assistance with anything?"

"Well, not quite," Zayn chuckled. "We've used a few session musicians - a drummer, a bassist, and an orchestra - but that's only because I can't play a trumpet to save my life!"

"I attempted to provide the drums," Niall protested. "But then Louis wrote this weird drumbeat that I just couldn't get, no matter how much I tried."

"You just weren't listening to me, Neil," Louis grumbled. "You kept hitting on the off-beat not the on-beat."

"Oh great, here we go again," Harry sighed. "This argument has been coming back around ever since Louis employed the session drummer."

"We're a little bored," Liam added with a snicker. 

"And you don't have to put up with Louis ranting about it while we're having dinner," Harry pointed out. "Or watching telly, or going to bed." He nudged teasingly at Louis. "I think I even heard him muttering about off-beats in his sleep the other night."

"You watch your mouth, Styles," Louis pointed at him. "Or you'll be on the sofa tonight."

"This makes a nice change," Greg interjected, before the couple could get into a bickering session.

"What's that, Gregory?" Niall asked.

"Seeing you all completely relaxed and open about who you are and who you're with and what you love," Greg smiled. "I know we have a lot of people watching on the webcam, and the twitter replies are going wild right about now." He grinned. "There's a lot of love and support out there for you."

"That's something we're incredibly grateful for," Zayn replied. "I think I speak for all of us when I say that we were massively nervous about this - about coming back, about coming out, about being ourselves for the first time in a very long time." He looked around at the others nodding. "We knew there would be a bit of support for us, that some of the fans would still be around. But to find that the support and the fandom seems to have grown exponentially in the past week, it's completely overwhelming and humbling, and we're unbelievably grateful to each and every one of them."

"I think it's actually been a bit more nerve-wracking for Zayn than for the rest of us," Harry commented. "He had that crappy ending to our previous term, that was out of his control and not of his doing at all, whereas we had the rest of the tour, another album, and the final few performances for everyone to say goodbye or whatever."

Greg opened his mouth to ask for an elaboration on what Harry had said, but was quickly shut down by both Liam and Louis waving their hands and shaking their heads quickly.

"Harry's said a little too much there," Zayn managed to laugh. "But yeah, it was tough. I know there are still a lot of people who aren't happy with the way things went down back then, but it's just a case of having to hope that what we're doing now is enough."

"Judging by the response we're having here at Radio 1, I think it's safe to say that what you're doing is enough," Greg chuckled. "Okay, so I have a few questions from the listeners here. Are you all happy to answer some of them this morning?" He checked as they all agreed. "Fantastic. First up, we have S from Cardiff, who wants to know where you recorded this album. Was it here in the UK, or somewhere else?"

"It was a bit all over the place, to be honest," Niall replied. "We did a load out in the studio at Haz and Lou's place in LA, we recorded a bit in a studio that Liam part-owns in New York, a couple songs were done in the studios I own with Bressie - Niall Breslin - in Dublin, and the rest was done here in London. We were lucky enough to have a few sessions in Abbey Road, and we got to go to Denmark Street as well."

"Tin Pan Alley!" Harry interjected. "It was amazing. We could literally feel the history in the air around us. It was so cool."

"And we also put down a track at Hampton as well, which is my studio here in London," Liam added.

"It's definitely been a whirlwind of flights and emails and WhatsApp discussions," Louis offered. "We managed to convince both Harry and Zayn to a) get grown up phones, b) get grown up apps installed, and c) actually check them. It's been a challenge, I can promise you."

"Ahh yes!" Greg crowed in amusement. "You're both notorious for not being very good with your phones, if I remember right, Harry and Zayn?"

"We're not  _ that _ bad," Harry huffed. "Just because I'm not into all the apps and the stupid voice changer stuff, and pulling a bloody duck face for a selfie... it doesn't mean I'm old fashioned or stuck in the past. It just means I have little patience for the crap that's pushed on us all the time. I prefer to just use my social media for the way I want to use it."

"And I got rid of the Nokia in 2014," Zayn sighed. "Louis just likes to jest a bit. Thinks he's a right comedian."

"You wish you were even half as funny, Malik," Louis told him, sticking his tongue out.

"Oh you know I'm twice as funny as you, Tommo," Zayn immediately retorted.

"Anyway!" Liam interrupted, knowing that the two would start squabbling like children if given free rein to do so. "Next question, Greg?"

"It was just getting entertaining," Greg joked. "Okay, this is from Emmi in Ohio... it must be 3am with you, Emmi - I'm impressed at the dedication! Emmi wants to know how you feel after Pride, and if you all realise just how proud the fans are of you all, because they are. They go on to say that you're an inspiration, and they're excited to hear whatever you're about to bring out."

"Hiii Emmi!" Harry called out. "Go to bed - listen to us on catch up." He paused. "Available on the BBC Sounds App in all good App stores, or online with BBC iPlayer."

"Thank you for the advertising, Harry," Greg snorted softly. "Now about the question?"

"Uh, I think I'll take that one," Louis piped up, talking slowly as he considers his words carefully. "Um. Well, firstly, for myself, I feel... amazing. But that doesn't feel like a big enough word to fully encompass everything that's going on inside. Stepping out onto that float was one of the scariest and most exhilarating things I've ever done, but also one of the absolute best. Knowing that I was going out there completely as myself, honestly and truthfully, was the absolute best." 

He took a shaky breath, flickering a smile as Harry grabbed his hand reassuringly. "As for the rest, I think we're all completely humbled by it. While we all know and fully understand that having public figures stepping up and coming out and showing the world that it's okay to be gay, having the knowledge, or the... ratification, I guess is the word? Being told then, that we're all inspirations, that our fans are proud of us, that we'll be seen as role models, just for being ourselves, in this bizarre and topsy turvy world... it's mind-blowing."

"That's beautiful, Louis," Greg smiled. "And you other boys agree?" He nodded as they all made noises of assent. "Wow. There you have it, Emmi. I hope that answer was worth staying up until 3am for!"

"Also!" Louis quickly added. "A huge thank you to everyone the world over for all of their support. We are so incredibly grateful, and we definitely do not expect it. But the fact that you're all still here, it means more to us than we could ever hope to explain. So thank you."

"An impassioned speech from Mr Tomlinson there," Greg winked at him. "So. Before we go back to more questions. I understand that you have something for me?"

"That could be taken so incredibly wrong, Gregory," Harry accused, waving a finger. "But yes, we do. We have the very first play of our very first single on our own label."

"Your own label?" Greg asked quickly, his eyes wide. "You didn't mention that before!"

"Oh, did we not?" Harry said, all five of them the picture of innocence. "Well, silly us."

"We are releasing this completely independently," Zayn elaborated. "On 1D Records. We're covering manufacture and distribution as well, and we've got our own publishing company too."

"So, no big label, no corporate interference, nothing?" Greg stared.

"Nope, nothing like that at all," Niall shook his head. "This is One Direction, right down to the very roots of it."

"We always said, even back when the break first happened, that we all had our own conditions for our return," Liam stated. "The biggest one that we all agreed on? Independence. On every single level. Record label, management, stylists, PR. Everything goes through us first."

"Okay, I'm being told to wrap up that ridiculously interesting conversation - you really should've brought it up before!" Greg chastised them. "But we're going to go back to the beginning of Harry's sentence; the World Exclusive play of your brand new single! It's all queued up, lads - if you'd like to introduce it to the world, and we'll get it going!"

The five looked at each other with bright smiles, before they leaned into the microphones.

"Hi, we're One Direction, and this is our new single: Pride."

**Author's Note:**

> [[Rebloggable tumblr post](https://reminiscingintherain.tumblr.com/post/186330777035/sing-it-back-reminiscingintherain-t)]


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